Being with Michael: Part 1 (Book Two)

Chapter Fifty

Michael's in his office pacing the room. Of course he couldn't expect himself to be Paige's first love, she wasn't his, so why did he just assume that?

He kicks over one of his chairs. God, why do I have to be such an asshole? He thinks to himself.

He walks over to the window and puts his right arm up to lean against it, resting his forehead on his arm. His stomach churns because he's scared he really screwed this one up.

He leans against the window for a couple minutes before he hears the office door open. He turns away from the window to see Paige as she wheels into the room.

He can see her face is red and stained with dried tears. He takes a step toward her, making sure not to cross his boundaries.

"Paige, I'm sorry. I got out of hand. I didn't like talking about you and another guy, and I know that's no excuse-"

"I understand," she says quietly. "I wouldn't like it if you talked about Lisa Marie."

Well, she definitely knows how to throw a good punch, Michael thinks.

"Are you okay?" Michael asks her like she's his kid. "Do you need me to do anything for you?"

"No, I'm fine, Dad," Paige replies. And even though she meant it as a joke, it wasn't until the word rolled off her tongue that she realized she never called anyone that before. She didn't even call her own father 'Dad,' she just called him by his first name. And, unfortunately, Joe wasn't of the expertise to assume that position in her life, or his own kids' for that matter.

"What are you thinking about?" Michael asks, putting his hand in his pockets.

"I just realized I've never called anyone Dad before," she explains. "I guess that's something else we have in common."

"Hmm," Michael doesn't know what to make of this. It's sad, but he likes that someone, especially his wife, can relate to him.

Paige breaks out of her daze, "Anyway, there's probably something else I should tell you before we head out tonight."

"More?!" Michael asks, shocked that there could be something else given all that she's told him.

"Don't worry, this is the last thing," Paige tells him. "We should probably go sit on the bench in front of the window."

She wheels up beside it and Michael sits down on the bench and crosses his legs crisscross-applesauce style. Paige laughs at him and he smiles and asks, "What?"

"You really are Peter Pan," she says.

He hesitates, "Is that a bad thing?"

"No!" She tells him, "I love it."

He smiles, but she gets serious. He can tell from her expression that this last thing probably isn't good.

Paige has her hands in her lap and she's playing with her fingers as she starts explaining.

"Right after I found out Daniel had died, I had no motivation, and I wasn't racing for a while. I would hang out in Ron's garage, though, so it gave me a place to go besides my run-down apartment. I still had some money left from my last race, but I was going to run out soon. Apparently one of the gangs involved with racing had bet on me for a race and I never showed up that night, so they lost the money on the bet. They bet almost all their money on me because I was on a winning streak for almost a year at that point. They lost all of that money, and they were pissed."

"Oh no," Michael gasps because he can imagine what happens next.

"I didn't even know this happened, but they knew I liked to hang out at Ron's. Ron was working on an engine and I was sitting at a makeshift card table. It's ironic because he was telling me it was about time I moved on and did something with myself, when a group of cars raced up the driveway. It all happened in a matter of seconds before they were out and started shooting up the place."